Zucchini Update

From empty painted pots, filled with a little soil...To sprouting little buds...
To popping leaves from inside seeds...
To happy Zucchini flowers!
Hope this means we're getting some organic zucchini this fall/winter.
Planting a garden here is so difficult. The plants seem to be doing well, but the seed packet tells me to plant them when it's still so hot. I waited since Phoenix is SO hot, but I hope I did it early enough so that they produce some good eats.

Are you planting a garden in the desert? or gardening in Phoenix, if you have some advice I'd love to hear it.

Happy Wednesday!

Tilling the Soil

Does it count as D.I.Y. if I get Husband to do it for me?

I'm going to say, yes... Anyway, yesterday, Husband rototilled the back yard for me (and himself)!! He's been getting into yard maintenance lately (that dad gene must be kicking in), and his nice patch of grass is staying a lovely shade of green. He also wants me to start gardening almost as much as I want to, so when my dad offered to let us use his rototiller, Husband gladly went to their home to pick it up.

Because of various circumstances my dad's tiller was actually brand new, he hadn't even taken it out of the box, so Husband had to assemble, disassemble, reassemble, reread the manual, reassemble, curse, and then finally attempt it's first use. It turned on for about 3 seconds and then promptly turned off. After more cursing and assembling and new gasoline, he attempted it yet again on day 2. Sweet Success! It worked! and he spend most of last evening tilling our crab grass infested side yard.

don't believe me? take a look for yourself:

When we first moved in:


After some maintenance:


During tilling:


After tilling:


Soon this area will be filled with my squash seedlings and maybe my tomato and carrot seedlings too!!

Happy Wednesday!

Baby Growing makes me feel like Growing Plants...

All I've wanted to do this whole time I was/am pregnant was grow plants. I wanted to start the garden where my son or daughter will eat his/her first meal. I wanted to plant a yard for my child to play in (done). I wanted to landscape our front yard so guests and neighbors would be jealous :)

This was my nesting.

But if you forgot (or didn't know), I live in the desert.

Plants grow here when they want to, and for the most part I respect that. But it was a long summer and I couldn't wait until I could get things planted and started for Fall.

Wednesday was one of the first cooler days here in Phoenix and I finally felt comfortable planning what I wanted to plant.

Friday is the first day of my weekend and so I went to Home Depot (I told you they own my soul). I purchased the plants you see below and some other yard necessities.

Here are my befores and afters of my Friday Workday.

All the Plants Before:

Cactus Pod Before:

Cactus Pod After:

Painted Pot Before:

Painted Pot After:

No before of this pot but here's the pretty purple succulent I planted in it:

Dead Succulents' Bowl:

Living Succulent's Bowl (I bought the right soil for it this time, and I will hide it from the heat, unlike I did with the above plants):

Dead Bell Pepper Plant in Beautiful Blue Pot:

Living Mint Plant in Beautiful Blue Pot:


I love getting dirty and feeling powerful from digging up warm soil for plants and seeds. I love feeling useful even though I'm huge (40 lbs so far). I love nature. I love replacing the gravel in our front yard with living desert-y plants. I love having an herb garden for fresh cooking. I love life right now. I hope you're lovin' yours right now too.

Happy Saturday!

Functional Friday No. 3

Composting!



Let's talk about it function-ability; it's one of those things that sounds easy, but isn't. I can't stand the idea of throwing food away. So, much to Husband's disgust (he hates the concept of rotting food on his counter, but he knows its for the right cause), I started collecting compost-able food scraps and storing them on the kitchen counter to throw into our yard somewhere. for a list of compost-able items click here.

To start, I piled a bunch of waste on the side of the house in the front yard, and waited. and waited... and am still waiting. The pile is still there and the main items have shrunk and decayed, while other pieces have not. They say an undisturbed compost pile can take over a year to mature. I didn't follow any the composting rules when I started, so we'll see how my first one turns out. It's been about 9 months so far, and about 4 months since I added anything. I think its going to be at least a year before anything is usable for my garden.

My second attempt was made after attending a class with the Phoenix Permaculture Guild, they're having another class on August 28th, click here for more info. I now have a proper pile. It's watered when I add new content and the proper ratio is attempted. You have to have a certain about of "browns" to "greens". Also, the area is surrounded properly to avoid rodent problems (and dog problems), plus by having it surrounded it doesn't dry up as fast- which can be huge composting nightmare in the desert.

If you're thinking about composting, do it! You save so much waste from land fills and we all know how bad those are. You are putting back something in to the earth that will help nourish you and your family later. Just do a little research before. Some areas will provide free composing bins (city of phoenix provides one for $5). Even if you live in a small apartment with a balcony you can compost, and put your matured compost into flowers and house plants.

Get into it!

Happy Composting!